Most buyers go with the agent who replies first and keeps in touch. Instora handles both: it alerts you instantly, and if you're busy, it follows up in your name until you get to them.
Lead emails
Every new lead (an enquiry, an open house sign-in, a follower or a seller lead) sends you an email straight away with their details. Reply to answer the buyer directly: your reply goes to them, not to Instora.
Turn these off in Settings → Notifications → New leads if you'd rather just check the Leads page. Leads are still saved either way.
Browser alerts
A pop-up on your computer or phone the moment a lead comes in, even when Instora isn't open. Click it to go straight to that listing's leads.
Turn them on: Settings → Browser alerts, or Turn on alerts in the banner on your Leads page. Your browser asks for permission; choose Allow. Then Send a test to check it works.
- Alerts are per device. Turn them on for each computer and phone you use.
- iPhone and iPad: alerts work once Instora is on your home screen. In Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, open Instora from the home screen icon and turn alerts on there.
- "Notifications are blocked": you chose Block at some point. Allow notifications for instora.io in your browser's site settings (the icon next to the address bar), then reload.
- Turn alerts off with the same switch. Browser alerts and lead emails are separate: you can have either, both or neither.
Automatic follow-ups
Each new lead gets a few short emails in your name over the following week, until you follow up yourself. They come from "Your Name via Instora", show your contact details, and replies go straight to your inbox.
What gets sent, and when
| Lead | Day 1 | Day 3 | Day 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing enquiry | Any questions about the home? (with a Book a showing button if you use Calendly) | A few more homes you might like | Still looking? |
| Open house visitor | Thanks for coming | A few more homes you might like | Still looking? |
| Agent page message | Homes you have right now | Still looking? | |
| Follower | Would you like to see it in person? | ||
| Seller lead | Your home value: what happens next | Selling tips | Ready to talk? |
The "more homes" email shows up to three of your other active listings, and is skipped if you don't have any. Emails go out late morning US Eastern time, so "day 1" is the next morning for a lead that came in overnight.
See every email with your own name, listings and contact details: Settings → Automatic follow-ups → See the emails.
When they stop
Follow-ups stop as soon as any of these happens:
- You move the lead past New. Clicking Reply on the lead does this for you, so replying through Instora is enough.
- You archive the lead.
- The same person sends you a newer lead (they get that lead's follow-ups instead, never two sets at once), or you're already working with them on another lead.
- The home is sold or unpublished.
- They click Stop emails from you, or their email app's unsubscribe.
Important: if you reply from your own email or phone instead of Instora, Instora can't see it. Mark the lead Contacted so the follow-ups stop.
Each lead shows where it is: "Automatic follow-up 2 of 3 around Oct 22".
Turning them off
Settings → Automatic follow-ups → switch off. Nothing more is sent to any of your leads until you switch it back on. They're on by default, on every plan.
Followers and update emails
Buyers who aren't ready to talk can tap Get updates on a listing. They're added to your leads with a Following badge, get a confirmation, and then an email whenever:
- The price changes. When you save a new price on the Edit page, leave Email the new price to the buyers following this home ticked. They see the old and new price.
- An open house is scheduled, moved to a new time (the email shows the old time crossed out), or cancelled (only followers who heard about it are told).
- It sells. When you mark it Sold, the email offers to help them find something similar.
Each email has a Stop updates link. To keep it from feeling spammy, a listing sends at most 5 of each kind of update a day.
Telling past leads about a new listing
When you list a new home, tell buyers who asked about your other homes. On the new listing, open Tell past leads about this home:
- Everyone who contacted you about your other homes is listed and ticked. Untick anyone you like.
- Add a personal note if you want (it appears at the top of the email).
- Send me a test to see it in your own inbox first.
- Send. Each buyer gets one email with the home's photo, price and a link, and replies come to you.
To keep it welcome, not spammy:
- Each listing can be announced once.
- A buyer gets at most one of these a week from you (anyone emailed recently is skipped and marked as such).
- Archived leads, buyers who stopped your emails, and people who already asked about this home are left out.
- Up to 200 buyers per announcement.
Stopping emails: what buyers see
Every email Instora sends a buyer for you has an unsubscribe link:
- Stop updates on a follower email stops updates for that one home.
- Stop emails from you stops everything from you through Instora: follow-ups, new-listing emails and updates on homes they follow.
If a buyer asks you to stop emailing them, archive their lead and ask them to use the link, or contact us and we'll do it.
Related: Every email Instora sends · Leads · Open houses